A point of sale (POS) system, which represents a point of sale management system, installs a POS terminal at a store to manage overall distribution economy such as market research, stocktaking, point of sale management as well as business transaction of sales.
That is, the POS system automatically collects and records sales management data (which will be used for sales management and stocktaking of products), which is accompanied with product sales, by providing a POS terminal functioning as an electronic cash register and a computer at a counter for selling products of department stores or supermarkets.
While a typical cash register has a main role of rapidly and exactly calculating sales amount of a customer at a site, the current POS system collects and processes information regarding the purchase and sales of products and, on the basis of this, rapidly checks and manages all sorts of product information and accounting information.
The POS terminal has the same function as the typical cash register, a function of temporarily recording data, and a function of transmitting point of sale data to a high-ranked device while connected the same. A product code is entered through a scanner or key input and then transmitted to the high-ranked device.
Regarding the POS terminal for performing the above-described functions, related arts including below patent document 1 are disclosed. The POS terminal includes a saving unit for storing an operation program and all sorts of data.
A hard disk drive (HDD) has been widely used as a typical saving unit for the POS terminal, and, in recent years, a SSD memory has also been widely used.
The saving unit may be frequently replaced according to various reasons such as operational errors or operation program update. However, since the POS terminal is necessary to be continuously used during business hours, a limitation of unavailability of the POS terminal during a time required for replacing the saving unit may cause a great limitation in which all payment works may not be processed during the time at most of small-sized stores, which use only one POS terminal.
Also, the above-described POS terminal includes a card reader for reading various card information of a credit card or a debit card, which is widely used for payment purposes, and the card reader is typically fixed to at one side of the POS device.
However, in case of a left-handed person of users using the POS device, the ratio of the left-handed persons is especially great in Europe or North America, and the left-handed persons may feel inconvenience when the card reader is fixed to the above-described position.
The above-described typical POS terminal is generally configured such that a main substrate and a display panel for displaying an operation screen are separately mounted to a case such as a main body as disclosed the “POS terminal device” in the below patent document 2 (Korean Patent Publication NO. 10-2016-0052869).
However, the above typical invention has a limitation in manufacturing efficiency and manufacturing costs because a frame for fixing the display panel and a frame for fixing the main substrate are required to be separately manufactured, and furthermore, a process of coupling the display panel and the main substrate is required in an assembly process.
Also, since the POS terminal is turned on and continuously operated during the business hours due to operational characteristics of the POS terminal, a structure of efficiently discharging the heat generated from the display panel and the main substrate is required.
Also, the POS terminal is generally installed on a predetermined stand so as to adjust an installation angle of a display or a touch panel, and a hinge structure for the above-described POS terminal is disclosed in various related inventions including “monitor mounting tool and POS device including the same” of the below patent document 3 (Korean Registered Utility Model NO. 20-0476965).
However, the typical inventions has a limitation in that a display panel, which has gradually increased in size and weight in recent years, may not be effectively supported, and an angle thereof may not be easily adjusted.